


Novelty

by Theoroark



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Consent discussions, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, body issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:26:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoroark/pseuds/Theoroark
Summary: Reyes propositions Akande. Things do not go how Akande was expecting or how Gabe wanted. H/C and Actual Vulnerability occur.





	Novelty

They’re not friends with benefits, because they’re not friends. Akande’s had friends with benefits before and those have been fluid, fun, spontaneous things. Reyes approaches this with none of that grace or geniality. He just waits for the boardroom to clear out, approaches Akande, and says, “I haven’t had sex in forever. Can you come by my place tonight?”

 

Akande wants to laugh. Should laugh. The proposition is ridiculous in its bluntness. And he can’t say he relates to Reyes’s problem. He’s confident, attractive, wealthy, charismatic. He is quite used to being wanted. 

 

The funny thing is, he doesn’t necessarily want to say no to Reyes. He’s not losing anything here. He’s not the one embarrassing himself. And he’s kind of curious now. Reyes is Reaper. He's seen his body do unbelievable things. Akande’s always been fascinated by novel experiences.

 

“Fine,” Akande says. “But I may be late. I have more work.” He sees Reyes nod. He looks down at his holovid for maybe a second and when he looks up again, Reyes is headed out the door.

 

-

 

Akande does have a lot of work. He makes it to Reyes’s at ten. Reyes is in a t shirt and sweatpants when he opens the door and when he sees it’s Akande, he turns and walks to the bedroom without another word. Akande remembers all of Reyes’s elaborate costumes, how he could not help but be a little entranced by them, and he stares at the coffee stain on his back as he follows Reyes.

 

“You’re going to have to top,” Reyes says bluntly, as he closes the bedroom door behind him. Akande raises an eyebrow. 

 

“Any particular reason for this mandate.”

 

“Well, I don’t have any fluids anymore, so it’d be a little difficult for me.” Reyes stares him dead in the eye, daring him to laugh. Akande doesn’t. 

 

“Okay,” he says, and with that Reyes looks away. He turns and walks towards the bed, pulling his clothes off and dropping them as he goes. He gets on the bed on his hands and knees. Akande stares. He still looks good. U.S. government sponsored muscles, a nice ass, in the dim light you can’t even see the gray pall to his skin. But he’s quieter than Akande likes his partners to be. And he likes to look at them.

 

But he and Reyes aren’t friends. So he gets lube and a condom from a drawer and gets on the bed next to him. He slicks up his fingers, and works one in, then pulls out and pours lube on his other hand, and hovers it over Reyes’s cock.

 

"Do you still have sensation?"   
  
Reyes pauses, then said, "Yes." He doesn’t sound particularly enthusiastic, but he hisses and arches his back a little when Akande wraps his hand around his dick, so Akande strokes him while working him open until Reyes says, "Stop." Akande freezes. 

 

“Stop…?”

 

“Stop touching me,” he clarifies. Akande stares at the back of his neck. 

 

“I thought you–”

 

“I do. It’s just depressing.”

 

"Right." Akande drops his hand. He keeps opening Reyes up, silently, until he pulls his fingers out and pushes in. Reyes hisses a little and drops his head. It’s strange, not having the warm heat around him, but Reyes is still tight and it still feels good as Akande starts to set a rhythm. Reyes still doesn’t talk, but Akande can see his fingers twitch and his back dip down.

  
Akande’s seen the gradients Reyes's body takes on. Not in person, of course. Up until now, Reyes has his mask and cloak on most of the time around him. But O'Deorain included extensive documentation in his agent profile. He can tell Reyes has made himself as complete as possible for this. His skin is all there, there’s no wispy black vapor, his hair is even long in the back. Akande runs his fingers through it and Reyes shudders a bit, tightens around him. Akande smiles and gently but firmly pulls back on his hair.

 

Reyes’s face is gone. The skin around it is there but the triangle of features has wisped away, leaving a billowing vent of smoke. Akande lets go of him, jerks back and pulls out. Reyes doesn’t move.

 

“Reyes,” he says. Reyes doesn’t respond which, in retrospect, of course he doesn’t, he doesn’t have a mouth. Akande moves away from him, sits down with a back to the headboard a good foot away. After a moment, Reyes collapses. Black smoke cushions up around his ears when his head hits the duvet. Akande stares as it swirls around him, and then Reyes is pushing himself up on his hands and knees again. His face is back, albeit a bit less skin, his eyes a bit more sunken. His eyes are wide though, the red like twin tail lights, illuminating the pillow case he’s staring down on. 

 

“Do you want me to get you your clothes?” Akande asks. Reyes nods. Akande gets up, grabs the clothes off the floor and places them next to him, and then gets back to his reserved spot. Reyes remains frozen in that same position for a moment longer. Then, almost violently, he flips over and pulls on his boxers. He kicks the rest of his clothes off the bed and leans up against the headboard, parallel to Akande. He watches Reyes and waits. 

 

“You want to hear something funny?” Reyes asks after a few minutes. His voice is steady but a touch too high. It clashes with the standard gravel. Akande cocks his head. 

 

“Okay,” he says. 

 

“I want to hyperventilate,” Reyes says. “But I can’t. I don’t have blood anymore, right?” Akande nods but Reyes isn’t looking at him. “So I don’t need to oxygenate red blood cells, don’t have any carbon dioxide that needs to be eliminated. Everything just… is.” He sweeps a hand over his body and laughs, harsh and high. “But I still want to hyperventilate. I still want to breath, so badly. It’s been years and I know, my mind is never going to catch up to my body. It’s always going to be off.”

 

Akande doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what to say. He could tell Reyes what he believes– that the struggle, the dissonance, make him unique and special, make him talented in ways no one else is. Make him terrifyingly useful. But he’s not an idiot and he’s not a bastard. He knows none of that is useful here. He follows Reyes’s gaze, to the opposing wall, and clears his throat. 

 

“Did it not, did I not… did it not work, like it had before?” Reyes laughs but this time it’s not unsettling, it’s just kind of sad. 

 

“There was no before, Akande. You’re the first person I’ve tried to fuck since the explosion.”

 

“Oh,” Akande says. Reyes shifts a little. 

 

“I mean, I’d, uh. Tested things. But not with other people.”

 

“Okay,” Akande says. Reyes sighs and turns to him. 

 

“I thought it would work,” he says. “I wouldn’t have suggested this if I didn’t. But it just reminded me of all the things I can’t do anymore. You ever been in an MRI?” Akande shakes his head. “Well, they had us in them all the time back in the SEP, and a lot of people freak out in a tight space like that. So they would project beach scenes around us, or forests, or whatever. Shit that we never thought we’d see again, holed up in there and the world burning down outside.” Akande takes his hand and Reyes seems to lose his train of thought for a moment. Then he blinks and says, quietly, “That’s what it felt like. Some bad copy of the real thing, because I’m never going to have the real thing again.”

 

“I didn’t agree to this out of pity,” Akande says. He’s still holding Reyes’s hand. “I wanted to fuck you.” Reyes ducks his head down. “You were Commander Reyes, for Christ’s sake. My biggest reservation for joining Talon was that I figured it would ruin my chances when I hypothetically met you.”

 

Reyes looks up. It seems to take a minute for him to tell that it’s a joke but when he does, he smiles. “Kind of wish I’d met you back then,” he says. “It’d be funny, watching Akande Ogundimu all star-struck.”

 

“If you had met me back then, you would have arrested me.”

 

“Yeah I would have.” Akande laughs, and Reyes leans back with a little smile on his face and suddenly, despite everything, Akande feels all the world like a twenty-something with a crush. It’s a novel feeling and so before it goes, he picks up Reyes’s hand and kisses it softly. Reyes tenses up a little, but doesn’t pull away. 

 

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out,” Reyes says quietly when Akande drops his hand. “I wanted it too.” 

 

“We can try again another time,” Akande says. Reyes nods. They’re done here now. They’re not having sex tonight. They’re not conducting business. They’re not friends. There’s no reason for Akande to remain here. 

 

Akande does not leave his bed. Reyes watches him for a moment, then Akande gets up and walks to the bathroom. He can feel Reyes’s red eyes on him as he walks. He puts on a robe, then comes back and lays. Reyes does the same. They’re both on their backs, there’s about an inch of space between them. They’re not cuddling but Akande isn’t sure what they’re doing instead. 

 

Everything new is preceded by an uncomfortable uncertainty, he reminds himself. And he values the new. 

 

“Good night, Gabriel,” Akande says. 

 

“Good night,” Gabriel responds. Akande closes his eyes. 

 

-

 

The next time, he has Gabriel lie on his back, his legs spread. “Should I do colors?” Gabriel asks.

 

“Yes,” Akande tells him, though honestly, he’s not going to be able to keep going if Gabriel does say “yellow.” He’s nervous, he realizes, in more ways than one.

 

“I’ll try to keep my mouth working this time,” Gabriel says, and he says it like it’s a joke. Akande nods and smiles like that isn’t the real reason he has Gabriel facing him.

 

He also likes to look at his partners too, though. And Gabriel closes his eyes as Akande works the first finger into him but his face stays, he stays, and Akande watches him. It’s not the best sex Akande’s ever had. But when Gabriel opens his eyes and wraps his arm around Akande, for the first time, that, that is good.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof this was my first smut & it had been languishing in my drafts for forever but someone was a dick to me about Akande & I saw some nasty shit about Gabe so. Here we are.
> 
> I'm @tacticalgrandma on twitter/tumblr if you want to talk to me there!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and any comments/kudos would mean the world to me <3


End file.
